From mines to market, our products leave traces that span the globe. During this discussion we will explore the anonymity enabled by globalisation and the atomisation of production, in doing so considering how we occupy conflicting roles as both consumers and citizens. Beginning by watching the film Blood in the Mobile we will question how, as emerging designers, we might seek to navigate these systems of production in the future.
Guest Speaker: Gemma Lord
Gemma explores how design might be used as a medium to question the social, cultural and political facets of emerging movements, technologies and phenomena. Having recently graduated from the Master of European Design programme at GSA, Gemma is a member of Normally, a London based design studio.

Monday 29th February
FILM: Manufactured Landscapes // The Reid Lecture Theatre // 6pm
This documentary reveals the gritty underside of industrial landscapes. Photographer Edward Burtynsky explores the subtle beauty amid the waste generated by slag heaps, dumps and factories. Memorable scenes include a Chinese iron factory where employees are berated to produce faster, and shots of children playing atop piles of dangerous debris. The contrasts between wealth and poverty are most striking in Shanghai, with new high-rises towering above old slums.

Monday 14th MarchTALK + DEBATE: Professor Vicky Gunn with response from Anthony Schrag // Barnes Lecture Theatre // 5.30pm
Can Art and Design Students Change the World’s Engagement with Sustainability? The Possibility of Prophetic Nomad with response from Anthony Schrag – a Modern Day Harlot of the Desert?
This short talk will argue that pessimism about Art and Design’s capacity to improve the global environmental crises needs to be robustly refuted. Drawing on a conceptualisation of the Artist and Designer as ‘prophetic nomad’, it suggests that the context of learning at Art School enables a range of personal characteristics to be amplified. These characteristics align with the literacies associated with environmental sustainability.